14. Know your weapon—its shooting character-
istics, its safeties, and its loading and unloading
procedures.
15. Never indulge in horseplay when carrying a
firearm.
In addition to observing these safety precautions
when handling and using firearms, you should take
steps to protect your hearing and sight, particularly
when you are exposed to repeated small arms fire such
as that on a rifle or pistol range. Blast noise from small
arms fire may cause a temporary or permanent hearing
loss. The extent of injury depends on a number of
factors, such as intensity of the noise, length of
exposure, and your own sensitivity to noise hazards.
Two general types of personal ear protective
devices are used to reduce noise and thus protect the ear.
These are the insert type (earplug) and the circumaural
type (covers the entire outer ear). The circumaural type
is sometimes referred to as Mickey Mouse ears.
If you work in a noise hazard area, you may be
fitted with a pair of earplugs. It’s important to have the
plugs fitted by a qualified member of the medical
department because each person’s auditory canals are
a different size and structure.
The Mickey Mouse ears (fig. 11-1) are made with
rigid plastic ear cups lined with foam, plastic, or rubber
to provide a comfortable seal around the outer ear. The
cups are connected over the head with an adjustable
spring type of headband for a snug fit.
Protecting your sight is as important as protecting
your hearing. The Navy has several types of safety
glasses and goggles that provide adequate protection
from the danger of small arms. They range from the
standard safety goggles used in everyday work to
prescription safety glasses.
When you are on the range, use these protective
devices so that you will always be able to see and hear
the full spectrum of sounds and sights you see and hear
today.
REVIEW 1 QUESTIONS
Q1. When handling a firearm, you should NOT take
which of the following actions?
a. Always treat a weapon a if it were loaded
b. Never point a weapon at anything or anyone
you don’t intend to shoot
c. Carry the weapon by the muzzle as long as the
safety is on
d. Never engage in horseplay when carrying a
firearm
Q2. List the protective equipment you should wear
when firing a weapon.
a.
b.
THE M14 RIFLE
Learning Objective: When you finish this chapter, you
will be able to—
Identify the M14 rifle.
The 7.62-mm M14 (fig. 11-2) rifle is a lightweight,
air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed shoulder
weapon. It was widely used during Vietnam. Since
then, it has since been replaced by the M16. It is
designed for semiautomatic or automatic fire at
the rate of 750 rounds per minute. The rifle is
chambered for the 7.62-mm NATO cartridge and is
11-2
Figure 11-1.—Circumaural (Mickey Mouse) type of ear
protector.
Student Notes:
